
and other ^Ph&mS 



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Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
in 2011 witin funding from 
Tine Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/creationotherpoeOOande 



CREATION 

and OTHER POEMS 



By 



Arthur Wellington Anderson 
I* 



f 



Jamestown, N. Y. 
1922 






Copyright 1922 
by A. W. Anderson 



C1A706314 



APR 27 '23 



-^o \ 



T)edicated to zMy 'J)fCother 



Qreation 



BEFORE all things in earth's created realm 
A wat'ry waste, the world in chaos moved; 
And brooding over all, Jehovah's love 
Conceived in darkness all the works of light. 
Through countless aeons He His purpose wrought. 
And order came where only chance had been. 
He spoke the word, and lo, the infant light 
Knocked at the portals of chaotic night. 
Feeble at first, it struggled with the gloom. 
But brighter grew as ages came and went — 
'Til looming through the mists the earth appeared, 
A shining disk; drifting in endless space. 
Again He spoke and night and day began 
Their ceaseless round of alternating reign; 
And still the earth was but a dreary mass 
Of heaving waters rolling wave on wave. 
With heavens high He arched the waters o'er 
Dividing all above from all below 
And made the "empty places" limitless 
For future glories of His handiwork. 
At His command the caverns of the deep 
Yawned, and the sea was downward drawn 
And then dry land appeared above the flood. 
For ocean's sway He set the metes and bounds 
That by His will it should not overpass 



And with a thundrous roar the mountains rose; 

The formless earth its primal shape assumed. 

The dismal light no shadows threw nor changed 

But amber glowed and faint, day after day. 

The Great Creator forth His fiat sent, 

And sun and moon upon their courses sped; 

And stars in an unnumbered multitude 

On nothing hung, and sent their brightness out. 

No more the melancholy half-light gleamed, 

A crystal radiance supervened the dusk — 

The air was pregnant with vitality — 

The world seemed waiting for a miracle ! 

A flaming herald lit the eastern sky 

And slowly rose the sun, a ball of fire. 

His genial rays the sodden earth did warm, 

Transmuting all her rugged form of wealth; 

Unlocking for the need of time to come 

The boundless treasure-houses of the soil. 

The thirsty land devoid of shelt'ring shade 

Sweltered and parched beneath his fervent heat. 

Down headlong rushing through heav'n's pathless void 

His chariots into the ocean plunged 

And 'neath its waters cooled their burning shards; 

Then to the heavens returned as vap'ry wraiths, 

In black'ning clouds o'erspreading all the sky. 

Now shot the lightnings forth, and thunders crashed. 

And deep detoning earth's foundations shook. 

While from the west, with mighty blast the wind 

Its besom blew, over a lifeless world. 

The air, once quiv'ring with the sun's fierce heat. 

Was laden with the moistened breath of clouds. 

Then broke th' impending storm in fury full. 

And rain descended on the thirsty ground. 

The naked earth before her maker lay 



Possessing naught of comeliness or charm; 

Divinest love encompassed her about. 

And clothed her in a robe of living green. 

Upspringing from the rough and barren soil, 

At His behest the herbs and grasses stood 

And giant trees their lofty branches spread, 

And forests swayed and tossed in every gale. 

Morning and noon in full effulgence passed 

And paled at eventide the sun's bright orb 

As nightly in His crimson bed He sank 

And left the world to his great counterpart. 

When faded from the sky day's afterglow 

And deep'ning night the world in darkness wrapped; 

A star from out the vault of heavens blue 

Glittered and flashed in pristine brilliancy — 

Fore-runner of stupendous pageantry. 

A thousand, thousand luminaries bright 

Like jewels studded the ethereal plains. 

Celestial systems centered 'round their suns 

And planets their appointed orbits kept. 

Upstreaming through immeasurable heights 

A strange new light dawned on the darkling earth 

And with majestic sweep night's ruler rose 

Ascending swift her throne among the stars. 

The world in silence 'neath her scepter passed 

Nor saw her glory any living thing. 

The firmament in astral beauty shone 

And cast its image in an ancient sea 

'Til with the dawning of another day 

Its glory faded and dissolved away. 

The avenues of ocean's deep abyss 

No creature swam, no life did animate. 

The mighty God stretched out His hand forthwith 

And fish in teaming millions filled the seas. 



In forms minute and monstrous made He them 
Each fashioning according to his kind; 
And winged fowls to fly above the earth 
Beneath the open canopy of heaven. 
Caressed by all the minions of the air 
The fecund earth in glad response conceived 
And fruitage of the tree and vine brought forth 
In measure full, whose seed was in itself. 
And God said "let four-footed things be made ' 
And things that creep and crawl upon the earth 
And it was so; and God pronounced it good. 
And all the host of them created He — 
Both male and female He created them 
And said, "be fruitful thou and multiply. 
The earth replenish; and thy food shall be 
The grasses and the herbs that I have made," 
So wrought the Lord ; and yet no man was found 
To till the soil or dress the fruitful vine. 
Then in the council halls of Paradise 
The Great Creator thus to angels spoke : 
"Let us a being like ourselves create 
To walk in our own image on the earth. 
And unto him shall all things subject be 
Upon the earth and in the air and sea— 
And he shall have dominion over them." 
From common clay the Lord created man 
And in his nostrils breathed the breath of life. 
And man henceforth became a living soul — 
Majestic; Godlike in his attributes. 
And God a garden planted where the flow 
Of crystal rivers watered every side — 
Where nature all her richest gifts bestowed 
To make for man an earthly Paradise. 
The man at early dawn in Eden stood; 



Of aspect fearless and of manner mild; 

Perfect in body and in mind complete; 

Upstanding straight among the mindless beasts 

That round him moved, obedient to his will. 

Sweet to his senses came the songs of birds 

And odors of new nature flourishing 

In primitive abundance; bearing fruit 

And flowers intermingled ceaselessly. 

Daily his simple wants the earth supplied 

And passing hours with new delights were fraught. 

In awe and wonder he beheld the sun 

Each morning rise in dazzling brilliancy 

From out the vap'rous curtains of the sea — 

And when the night came on he watched the stars, 

And saw the moon sail o'er his native isle. 

And yet remained the man unsatisfied ! 

A longing vague his human heart possessed 

For human love; and dear companionship. 

"It is not good" — the Lord declared — "for man 

To be alone; a mate 1 will create." 

And Adam slept — and when he woke, behold 

The crown of God's creation near him stood — 

A woman — of his flesh and bone a part, 

To be through life his comforter and friend. 

In blissful state the first created pair 

Their lives began beneath God's filial smile. 

Instinctive love each for the other bore. 

And each in other's presence found delight. 

No care or sorrow marred their happy lot; 

But each new day new happiness contained — 

The unaffrighted beasts their presence sought 

And lovely nature constant joy bequeathed. 

Thus finished the Creator all His work. 

From all His labor resting satisfied. 



The Old ^yKCanse 

IN a tall, old fashioned dwelling 
Of an old New England Town 
Where the birds their joys were telling 
Underneath the gables brown, 
Happily we dwelt together. 
My two hostesses and I, 
And in fair or stormy weather 
Each did with the other vie 
In some kindly thought expressing 
Or some bit of cheerful news, 
Daily happenings redressing 
In the garb of private views. 
Like the mountain Oak that towers 
On the rugged rocky height 
Where the threat'ning storm-cloud lowers- 
Yearly adding to its might, 
Nearing four-score years, the Mother 
Still her youthful soul possessed 
And endeavored still to gather 
Truth from life that 'round her pressed. 
With a ready recollection 
Of the days that once had been 
When within the homes protection 
She the outer world had seen 
Through the medium of neighbors 
'Round her father's country store 



Who, in respite from their labors 

Met and gossiped at the door. 

When the sun's last rays were falling 

On Wachusetts' lofty crest 

And the robin's mate was calling 

From the perch above the nest, 

She would tell us of her girlhood. 

Of the church, and school, and home. 

Of the pastures and the wild-wood 

And the fields she loved to roam — 

Tell in broken, halting phrases. 

Of a youthful love affair; 

Call from out the past's dim mazes 

Half in story, half in prayer 

Visions of her school-boy lover 

Ever faithful, ever true — 

Growing dearer to her ever 

As the changing seasons flew, 

Till in love's sweet consummation 

They their highest bliss had found 

And the sacred consecration 

Had each to the other bound. 

Children blessed them and they travelled 

On through life as lovers still 

With devotion that unravelled 

Tangled skeins that boded ill. 

Halted now the story's current 

As she told with eyes of love 

How her sweetheart crossed the torrent 

At the summons from above; 

Called her to his side in passing 

And his parting kiss bestowed 

Tenderly her brow caressing 

E'er he sought the Blest abode. 



Thus she ended, and sat dreaming; 

While the daughter to the guest 

Oracle of music seeming — 

Talked of this her constant quest — 

Of her years of preparation 

For the present days of skill 

And the golden compensation 

For the efforts and the will 

To achieve in largest measure 

Self-forgetting in the strife 

Naught to know of rest and leisure 

Through the early years of life. 

Far had gone her fame for learning 

In her chosen field of art 

And her worth, the youth discerning 

Came to listen and be taught 

All the precepts of the ages 

That to minstrelsy belong 

Told by muses to the sages 

In the artistry of song. 

In the evening, when the shadows 

Crept around our cottage door 

And the fog wraiths from the meadows 

Gathered over fen and moor. 

Up the stairway softly droning 

Is my attic door ajar 

Came the viol's tender moaning 

Like the forest winds afar. 

And the sound of merry laughter 

Floating upward through the hall 

Echoed back from beam and rafter 

Ceasing at the teacher's call. 



Round in order there they gathered 
Ruddy youth and maiden fair 
Each a string creation bearing. 
Tested now with patient care. 
Then the Tutor's hand uplifted, 
Poised the bow each neophyte. 
And from softest cadence sighing 
Mounting through crescendoes bright. 
Laughing, shouting, singing, sobbing. 
Or in tender tones of love. 
Swelled the mighty soul of music. 
And its wild enchantment wove. 
Thus the days were filled with gladness 
And the nights with music rang 
While the muses to my fancies 
Songs of wondrous beauty sang. 



September in a 3\[e\K> England 
tillage 



T 



ODAY I climbed the hill alone 
And stood beside an arch of stone. 



The landscape smiled beneath the sun ; 
The strong wind shook the ripened corn 

And silently went sailing by 
The fleecy navies of the sky. 

I saw their changeful shadows play 
Upon the mountains far away 

Each shape fantastic giving place 
To others in the onward race. 

Beneath me lay the peaceful homes 
And churches raised their lofty domes. 

The sunshine glorified the trees 
And roused to life the drowsy bees. 

Across the intervening vale 
I saw the tower on the hill 

Upraising high its massy eaves 
Above the tapestry of leaves; 

Confining in its oaken cell 

Its giant clock and sweet-toned bell. 



The river flowed the hills between. 
The birches o'er its banks did lean; 

And strewed their leaves — no longer green — 
Upon the water's silver sheen. 

Far down the valley's winding course 
I heard the heron's challenge hoarse 

And from a distant farm there came 
The sound of children at a game 

And cattle lowing at the gates; 
And horses neighing for their mates. 

Adown the waves of ether bright 
Came notes of wild fowl in their flight; 

And sweet on the September air 
Came odors from the pines afar. 

The blue jay's thrilling cry 1 heard 
And saw him coming from the wood 

In all his gay habiliments, 

To take the gardens' increments. 

The wild grapes hung, of sweetness full. 
In glowing clusters on the wall. 

And orchards, from the hills sent down 
Their fragrance on the quiet town. 

The frost had killed the pumpkin vines 
And passing through the garden lanes 

Had touched each plant with hand austere 
And left it standing brown and sere. 

But beautiful the fruit they bore; 
The crowning glory of the year. 



Around the country school-house rude 
The red leaves of the sumac showed 

While 'long the peaceful road arrayed 
The elm trees stood — a tall brigade. 

The flaming leaves of beech and oak 
Were mingled with the fir trees dark 

And near the maples' scarlet hood 
The yellow-mantled poplars stood. 

The alders bent above the brook 
And tints from nature's spectrum took 

Where farmer boys with line and hook 
Their quarry sought in shady nook. 

Thus lay the land in verdure fair 
And nature's music filled the air. 



The cCo'^ers 



UPON the old ancestral farm, 
Far from the City's noisome strife, 
'Mid natures' grand symposium, 
He lived the Farmers' simple life. 

He felt the cool embrace of dawn 
E're Phoebus had his race begun 
And heard the first bright morning song 
Of birds that hailed the rising sun. 

For him the morning glories bloomed 
Anew when each new day was born, 
And shone, a matchless diadem, 
Upon the shining brow of morn. 

Through summer's heat and winter's cold. 
The ever-changing seasons wound 
In one continuous pageantry 
Their never-ceasing circles round. 

But incomplete the Farmer's life 
As passing days their voices brought 
With intermingling visions of 
The maiden fair whose love he sought. 

By stages imperceptible 

The cold and snow had passed away 

And rousing from her icy sleep 

The earth had smiled in blossoms gay. 



And hand in hand these lovers walked 
Under the glory of the trees 
Hearing the Robins' mating song 
Amid the busy hum of bees. 

The blue birds nesting overhead 
In silence heard the lovers' vows 
And saw the blissful pair caress 
Beneath the overhanging boughs. 

Then all the world seemed glorified 
And nature in a mood benign 
Listened while sweet the voices rang 
Of birds in symphonies divine. 



(glacier Galley 



ALONE I walked a recent morn 
In eager haste and happy mood 
To where, at a primeval dawn 
A mighty glacier frowning stood. 

And while I thought upon the past 
Of the fair valley spread below 
There 'rose beside me, white and vast 
A dazzling wall of ice and snow. 

The dismal arctic night was gone 
And rising in his might, the sun 
In warm eflFulgent glory shone; 
The ice king's giant task was done. 

For ages he his plows had sent 
Across the desolate expanse 
To till the soil ; and rocks were rent 
Or polished by their sidelong glance. 

The vision vanished when a bird 
From out his covert in a tree 
Upon the vibrant air outpoured 
The music of his matin lay. 

Long centuries have passed between 
The present and the ancient day 
And for the wealth of verdure green 
In passing have prepared the way. 



The heritage of icy mound 
Is vocal in a singing brook; 
And in the cloven rock is found 
Engraven, Nature's wonder book. 

Where once the awful glacier 'rose 
The little children romp and play. 
The happy school-boy laughing goes 
Where once the frozen peril lay. 

With all the ardor of a boy 
Fulfilling some long-cherished dream 
I scarce concealed my unfeigned joy 
As now 1 wandered down the stream. 

Between the grasses wild and rank 
And stately goldenrod that glowed 
At intervals on either bank 
Along its winding course it flowed. 

By devious paths its way it found 
Where reeds and rushes gently swayed. 
By mossy bank and grassy mound 
To pools where loit'ring cattle wade. 

From bush and tree the feathered choir. 
Each with his own unwritten score, 
A part became of Nature's lyre 
And each his richest vestments wore. 

Bright butterflies and humming bees 
Their meed of life and color brought 
And flowers, nodding in the breeze 
The sunlight's benediction sought. 



Here, where a primal ocean lay 
And unknown rivers rushed and roared 
In seething foam and feath'ry spray, 
The records of the past are stored. 

And generations yet unborn 
Shall wonder at the cryptic signs 
Upon the rocks asunder torn 
Where clamber now the running vines. 



<J)(Cemory 

THE Winter days are gone, dear heart, 
The Spring has come at last, 
And nature o'er the landscape brown 
A robe of green has cast. 

In gorgeous beauty bloom the flow'rs 

And perfume sweet distil 
While birds in ecstasies of song 

The list'ning senses thrill. 

But O, the days so slowly pass 

Since you departed, dear; 
A week its hours dragging by 

Seems strangely like a year. 

When shadows of the fading day 

Upon our dwelling fall. 
And feathered songsters from the trees 

Their gay companions call — 

When all the voices of the night 
Wake from the day's repose, 

And cooling counterpane is laid 
Upon the new-born rose — 

Our babies close 1 gather, dear, 
And think of you; and pray — 

And wish that you might be again 
As close to me as they. 



I call your name sweetheart, and try 
To think that you are here; 

As bright and joyous in my arms 
As you were yester-year. 

In fancy once again 1 walk 

The woodland paths with you 

Or wander by some silver stream 
That we together knew. 

Again as in a waking dream 
Your voice 1 hear, and see 

The glory of your smile, that once 
Was Paradise for me. 

What bliss attended as we planned 

About our future home. 
And saw the glowing visions of 

"The years that were to come." 

Our lives in sweetest unison 

Had blended into one 
And loves unfailing miracle 

His holy reign begun. 

Then fell like sudden night the truth 
That awful death was near 

To take from me earth's sweetest joy 
Oh God — how did I bear 

The bitter flood that swept my soul 
From all its moorings free, 

And cast the crushed and broken wreck 
Adrift upon life's sea? 



But life shall triumph over death 
And faith shall hold its sway- 
Within my heart, and we shall meet 
Again some glorious day. 

E'en now my love the days are blessed 

With memories of you 
That fall upon my waiting heart 

Like a refreshing dew. 

I will not say farewell, dear girl. 
But hail — forevermore — 

For still you are my sweetheart, dear, 
Just as you were before. 



(Dedicated to my friend, Mr. Harper Qatton, in memory of his loved comftanton). 



<J^orning 



iig""'^ morning bright! Oh morning glorious! 
II Who saw thee when thou mad'st thy first 
approach 
Announced by singing birds and waving fronds? 
An eve of wondrous calm preceded thee 
Hung with celestial lanterns great and small 
That lent enchantment to the spectral forms 
That rear themselves whene'er the daylight fades. 
The hours passed while creatures of the night 
Sported themselves or hunted for their prey. 
The wind its vespers whispered in the trees 
And brooks made music in the forest glens. 
The moon in full-orbed grandeur sailed her course 
And made at last her harbor in the west. 
A cock sent forth his challenge to the dark 
Prophetic of the day that was to be 
And then a hush fell on the waiting earth 
And nature lay in wrapped expectancy 
Sensing afar the advent of her Lord. 
In reedy pools and sedgy fastnesses 
The frogs had ceased their piping one by one 
And silence reigned where through the watches long 
An orchestra had played in many keys. 
Faint in the east an opalescent light 
Tinted the sky and flushed the loit'ring clouds. 
The low sweet twitter of a happing bird 
Presaged the waking of a slumbering earth 



And stirring in his lofty nest the hawk 

Essayed his daily flight to meet the dawn. 

A purple hue now tinged the eastern sky 

Turning to carmine as the morn advanced. 

Perched on the pine tree's highest pinnacle 

A robin sang his morning orison 

And the winged choristers of field and wood 

Joined in a mighty anthem to the day. 

The heavens brightened, and the king of light 

Rose in red radiance from his misty bed 

And turned each dew-drop to a glistening gem. 

A thrill ran through earth's myriad forms of life 

And gladness on the face of nature shone 

Rejoicing in her metamorphosis. 

In habitat remote from man's abode 

The wild rose woke and blushed in brilliant hues 

Casting its incense on the passing breeze; 

And anchored in the shallows of the ponds 

White fleets of water-lilies spread their sails 

And scattered far their cargo's fragrant store. 

With scent of trees and flowers redolent 

The west-wind brought a sound of festive joy— 

The songs of feathered minstrels merry-making. 

In various guise and bearing each his part 

They gathered where the herbage ranker grew 

In valleys cool, beside the winding streams. 

The oriole in the elm's high thatch of leaves 

Dropped swiftly from his hanging nest anon 

And spilled his liquid flute notes as he went, 

A yellow jewel on a field of green. 

The bobolink in gorgeous plumage dressed, 

Hovered on quiv'ring wing above the grass 

And poured a flood of music on the air 

In seeming exultation o'er his lot. 



But now a thousand voices smote the ear 
In concord of sublimest melody 
And all the place was resonant of Paradise — 
Of harmonies unknown to mortal choirs. 
Through symphonies and rhapsodies they bore 
In chord ecstatic and in passage grand, 
And all the voices of the universe 
Proclaimed the glory of a day new-born. 



The Forest <J^onarch 

OH Giant Tree! Thy mighty bole 
The passing centuries have seen, 
And unknown mornings have beheld 
Thy lofty canopy of green. 

The summer gale and wintry blast 
In vain have beat upon thy face 

And vainly weaker forces strove 
For ages to usurp thy place. 

Before the present race had found 

In this fair wilderness a home, 
Or rangers of the wide domain 

In gainful quest had hither come; 

The Indian saw thy lovely form 
And pitched his tent beneath thy shade. 

Gazing in wonder at the spread 
Of thy great limbs above his head. 

From immemorial time, the birds 
Have nested in thy quiet boughs. 

And strange nocturnal guests arrived. 
Through the long days to nod and drowse. 

Under thy far flung greenery 

The wild deer passed the scorching noon 
And 'round thy feet the gray raccoon 

Played in the light of the harvest moon. 



How oft, when heralds of the sky 
Their trumpets blew and roared amain. 

Creatures of field and wood have fled 
From seeming death, thy lodge to gain. 

The cleft that in thy side appears 
Befell thee in some hapless hour 

When strident winds unleashed from heav'n 
Bereft thee of an arm of power. 

But still thy robe of green itself 
Renews each verdant eastertide. 

And each returning autumn sees 
Thy leafy garments glorified. 

So live, thou ancient friend of man. 

For generations yet to be, 
A legacy beneficent 

And beautiful, — Oh Giant Tree! 



'rn'M:^^-^""^ 



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£?'^GRess 



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